another overheating thread (lol)

[Chayton]

Just as the title says, im overheating. and I cant get it to stop. This all began a few days ago, I had only been driving for maybe 10-15 minutes or so (this involved a brief jaunt on and off the freeway, just from one exit to the next) when I began to smell coolant. Following this the temp gauge began to climb. Pull over, coolant is spewing out the resovoir cap. Up until this point the car has never ever ever had any sort of over heating problem. At the time I assumed the cap might have been on there funky; misthreaded. Got it home, followed the burp procedure, began to drive, still over heating. I thought it may be the thermostat at this point, as I was able to drive on the freeway for a while without it overheating, but later when I got back on the freeway it would go back up.(not sure if this was just because it was losing coolant through the cap) I remember the last time it overheated before I changed the thermostat, I popped the hood with the car running, and I could see/hear the thermostat housing twitch almost, it was making a clicking sound and twitching :confused: At this point idk how much coolant was in there. Ive replaced the thermostat and it continued to overheat. I burped the car again, not yet realizing there was something wrong with the cap. drove it, overheated, pulled over but at this point I found that while the engine was running coolant was free flowing out from the cap. it wasnt boiling over, the coolant coming from under the cap was lukewarm. Replaced the cap, and now it does not leak at all from the cap, but continues to overheat. It didnt overheat as fast this time though. Im hoping it just needs to be burped again? as of right now you can sit and idle for as long as you want and the car wont overheat, but once you get going the temp climbs. What do you guys think. Also it may be important to note the temp never once hit the red, the highest it ever got was the H line indicator but once it did I immediately shut it off.

TLDR: at this point, the thermostat and cap have been replaced. The car does not overheat when idling, only once you start driving. Would it make sense to have to burp again after replacing a leaky cap?

[RubberCtyRauder]

Make sure the fan is working

[Chayton]

Make sure the fan is working

I can hear it screaming pretty good

[MOTOWN]

Have you ensured the water pump is working properly?

[Chayton]

Have you ensured the water pump is working properly?

I have not.. When I was doing the burping procedure and had the car started with COT plug removed I could see coolant flowing... but just because its flowing does not mean water pump is working properly, amirite?

[MOTOWN]

I have not.. When I was doing the burping procedure and had the car started with COT plug removed I could see coolant flowing... but just because its flowing does not mean water pump is working properly, amirite?

If its flowing at a steady pace its probably working, is it leaking around the water pump shaft?

[Chayton]

If its flowing at a steady pace its probably working, is it leaking around the water pump shaft?

no other leaks I can tell of besides when it was coming out from under the cap...I had to add about half a reservoir full. Burp again?

[MOTOWN]

no other leaks I can tell of besides when it was coming out from under the cap...I had to add about half a reservoir full. Burp again?

Yes i would definitely burp it again, at this point you have air in the system since you changed the thermostat.

[lifespeed]

Burp with the front end slightly uphill. Then let it cool down overnight and check the coolant level in the crossover tube the next morning to confirm it was done right, or add more coolant (no idling should be necessary the second time).

It is pretty easy to have air remain trapped in there.

[slickster]

How many gallons did you use. I used almost 2

[Chayton]

During normal operation, shouldn't coolant be sucked down from the reservoir? It stays full all the time

[lifespeed]

During normal operation, shouldn't coolant be sucked down from the reservoir? It stays full all the time

No, just expansion and contraction from heat. It will spit a little out if it is too full, then stay nearly full with the air gap indicating the change in volume occupied from hot to cold.

[Chayton]

Burped it and let it sit overnight..checked COT level was good...drove it all through city no overheating...drove highway no overheating...did a WOT 1-2ND and immediately began overheating....? Do I need to burp it one more time. It's definitely better than before, but still...overheating

[lifespeed]

The COT plug after cooldown is where you'll find any remaining air if there is any, assuming you're parked level or slightly uphill. You may have already resolved any problems with air. You're not opening the reservoir cap, right? What about insects and flattened fins on the AC condenser or radiator? Lower hose sucking flat? Plugged radiator tubes? Accessory drive? Rotted away water pump impeller? Sticking thermostat?

[8UWITH6]

First things first stop beating on the car until you figure this out. The more you let it get hot the more of a chance you have of damaging the engine.

Sounds like you have checked the basics. If it was a restricted radiator or bugs/debris on the front of the radiator it would run 3/4 gauge or warmer than normal but may not totally overheat. But this is an easy thing to check by pulling off the plastic cover on the core support.

Do you have heat? A good thing to check when dealing with air pockets is to have the heat on in the car while the engine is at operating temperature. If you don't then you know you have an issue.

Other than that have a shop perform a block test to see if you blew a headgasket. A block test checks for the presence of combustion gases in the coolant.

[Chayton]

Figured id follow up so we can put this thread to rest lol.

I could have saved alot of time and frustration by just replacing the dang reservoir cap! thats all that was wrong. My first mistake was making the decision to throw parts at it instead of taking the time to figure out what was really wrong. See, the MURRAY brand thermostat that I put in (of which the boob at oreilly's ensured would work) does NOT work with out cars! let it be known I learned the hard way! mind you the original thermostat had nothing wrong with it(In the end I swapped it back in for the murray, which ultimately solved my overheating issues) But I figured hey its cheap and maybe it will work. Well when it continued to overheat, dad said its gotta be the waterpump :rolleyes: Pulled it, looked just fine, threw the new one in, still overheating. In between all this were many many burping sessions.(Hey atleast im a pro at it now!) Continued to do more research and thanks to the members posts below, I was able to solve the problem! Sorry if this is old news, I just figured id share to make sure no one else has to go through what I did :P


I found out the hard way that not all aftermarket thermostats work with the Marauder. For instance MotoRad is listed for the Marauder but does not work correctly for our cars as I think they were made for the regular Crown Vic/Grand Marquis. MotoRad doesn't even look like the right one.


My coolant gauge would spike and then drop, so I thought it was the thermostat sticking. Marauder has 67,000 miles on it. I bought a Murray 195 degree thermostat and installed it with new coolant last weekend. Parts guy showed me the computer screen and It was the right part. Installed it and the engine would not stay cool. Burped the system repeatedly but no more air bubbles and still running hot. temp gauge never got to the red but was running very hot. Had to borrowed my wife's car this week. I bought a Stant thermostat and installed it this morning. Marauder runs fine with normal temperatures. The murray thermostat had a stiffer spring then the motorcraft and stant units (in the flow direction).

The Marauder does not have the thermostat in the engine as most cars do, but in the radiator hoses. So, it must be more sensitive to different types of thermostats.

I would recommend Marauder owners be carefull when purchasing a new thermostat. Jim